Contemporary nursing practice requires the use of high-quality evidence to support nursing care decisions. Evidence-based practice is effective in improving the safety and effectiveness of nursing care while improving patients’ health outcomes. Although the body of nursing and allied health knowledge is burgeoning, its influence on patient care decision is lagging. In consideration of foregoing, it is the responsibility of nursing faculty to develop curricula with a strong emphasis on evidence-based practice.
The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario’s (RNAO) Best Practice Guideline (BPG) Programme is an initiative aimed at increasing the influence of evidence on patient care decisions through direct patient-care actions and nursing education. The RNAO Best Practice spotlight programme engages academic or clinical organizations who submit a proposal to the RNAO to implement and evaluate the impact of BPGs in their organizations. The aim of this partnership is to positively influence patient care through evidence-based practice. BPGs address a specific patient care or health system issue. They are systematically developed, actionable, practice recommendations which are informed by the best available evidence.
The three-year candidacy period (2015 – 2018) prior to evaluation for BPSO designation began with the convening of an implementation team and Lead. Early strategies to ensure success included a literature search to facilitate an evidence-based approach to BPG implementation. During this process it became evident that the literature provides nurses in clinical practice with extensive guidance on strategies to integrate BPGs and evidence-based practice into patient care decisions. The literature also provided extensive support for evidence-based change management in a variety of settings. However, there is a paucity of literature which provides support and guidance for nurse educators who wish to integrate BPGs and evidence-based practice into the nursing curriculum. The aim of this paper is to fill that gap by outlining strategies used by the implementation team at a school of nursing, to successfully integrate select BPGs into the nursing curriculum.
Design
Qualitative descriptive design
Method
Members of the implementation committee, the BPSO lead, guideline implementation leads, and faculty were interviewed at the end of the candidacy period. Informal discussions with student groups also provided data to describe the strategies.
Results
Data were collected from a single academic organization. Informants identified the following as strategies which facilitated successful BPSO designation: assigning a capable BPSO implementation lead and team; identifying a project sponsor; gaining support from all levels; engaging champions at all levels; and ensuring congruence between selected BPG and curriculum need.
Conclusion
Strategies identified by the participants provided valuable insight into strategies and innovations for facilitating successful BPSO designation and the integration of evidence-based practice into the nursing curriculum. This article written in partial fulfilment of the agreement between the RNAO and the school of nursing provides insight into their journey to becoming the first institution in the region to receive RNAO’s designation as a Best Practice Spotlight Organization.